Lap storage rack



May 4, 1943. .1. R. KERRY LAP STORAGE RACK Filed Oct. 25, 1941 mull-ll Patented May 4, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STORAGE RACK John R. Kerry, Palatine, Ill., assignor to The House of Vision, Belgard-Spero, Inc, Chicago, IlL, a corporation of Delaware Application October 25, 1941, Serial N 0. 416,436

Claims,

his nv ntion elates to a lap sto a e rack and more particularly to a rack fo supportin a plu lity f rinding or pol shin laps in a simple and n enient arr ng m nt.

n object of the invention is to p ovide a simple and inexpensive form of rack for Sun po t n a plu a ity f laps. An ther object is to o id a ra k which will a commodate a lar number of p of a y n sizes and sha esand wi m ain th lens in r adily accessiblenosition- Still anoth r o ject is o p ovide a st o sturdy rack structure of simple construction A further object is to provide a rack which will accommodate a maximum number of laps in a position in which all of he laps are readily accessible to the user.

ther f a u es an ad an a es of t e invention will appear from the following specification and drawing, in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the racl; with the laps supported thereon; Fig.- 2 is a view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig, 1, showing one of the shelves in plan; Fig. 3 is a similar view of another shelf; and Fig. 4 is a tragmentary vertical sectional view of a modification of the rack with laps supported thereon.

In prescription grinding Optical shops and the like, circular iron laps are used to generate curved surfaces on glass or other materials. The laps are provided with vertical shanks are secured to vertical driving spindles when t e laps are in use. The laps may be of various curvatures, diameters and weights. In accordance with the present invention, a storage rack structure for supporting these laps s PIO i In the grinding of glass and other materials in optical shops and the like there are many different stages of the grinding and, polishing operations. Man y difierent sets of laps are used for these different stages and most optical shops have the problem of storing extremely large numbers, often hundreds of grinding and polishing laps. At the same time, the laps should be stored in such a manner that each lap is readily and promptly accessible. In the grinding operation, a particular lap is ordinarily used for only a few minutes at a time and then returned to storage, the lap usually being dripping wet with traces of grinding or polishing compounds clinging to it. In the present invention an improved rack for the orderly and eflicient storage of such laps is provided.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, an enlarged base In of metal or other suitable material provides a support for a vertical shaft II. A plurality of collars l2, l3, l4 and I5 are secured to the vertical shaft H by set screws [6, I 1, l8 and [9 respectively. The collars are arranged in spaced vertical relation and are fixed to the shaft 1 I.

' larger lap ofte hru bear n s 2 2 22' nd ar suprted n the colla s 2, I 3. and l r sp tively. The thrust bearings may be f any suitable construction and preferably are equipped with ball bearings 24 or other suitable anti-friction means.

Shelves 21, 28, 29 and. 3!] are supported on the bearings 20, 2|, 22 and 23 respectively.

The base 10 also supports a thrust bearing 3| which carries a shelf 32.

Each of the shelves is provided with a hub 33 which is centrally apertured to receive the haft II and which is supported by the thrust bearing beneath the same.

In each shelf a plurality of deep or long slots 34 extend radially inwardly from the periphery 35 of the shelf. The slots 34 pref rably extend at least two-thirds of the radial distance between the periphery and the central axis of the shelf. Between each pair of slots 34 is a short or shallow slot 36 which also extends radially inwardly from the er phe f the e f.

Laps .31 provid w th rinding s rfaces .38 and s nks 3. are re ei w thin the slot 4 an 3 wi h h s nks 38 endin own ard y hr h h s o s an e head o each a be n pported b he s el adia e t the l t e slots ma b s a eda a t ea h hel by any su ab e d tan e. f ra ly, the sare so a ed th eac o t slo s ada te to eceive only a single lap. With this arrangement, the peripheries of the circular laps may be im-. edi t l ad ac nt ea h othe As seen in Fla the s s ma be dis-posed in closely spaced relation when the laps which are to be supported are relatively small. On the. other ha d. when the l ns wh c r o be v d r a er n am e h sl ts as seen i Fig. 2 may not be spaced so closely to each other.

e shel es ma e o mat su h s stee orof any other suitable material and may be n e a l se red t he hu a s own or ma be attach d th e in a o h uit ble manmen The hu of e c he f is ree r a a e a o t the sha 1 I bei up o ed on h thrust bearing therebeneath. The enlarged heavy base It provide a ubs antia u o t t r he reek.-

Th ra k hu r v es a lu al o e ical ced p al el s el i h a ada ed to sup por a p uralit o aps th eonhe lens ma be ea ily aced n the s ra rack. b nserti the shank 39 of the lap in the appropriate slot. Whe h ack is filled with len -the wei h of he s me s sub ntiall increas d si ee the We sh be ween two and thr pounds- Ne rt eles th strueture i strp ansl sturdy and readily supports a large number of laps.

When it is desired to obtain any particular lap,

it may be removed from the rack by rotating the Preferably the slots in the shelves which are I intended to support concave laps are a trifle larger than the shank diameter of the lap to be supported. This permits the lap to be lowered into I the slot a greater distance than would otherwise be possible and lowers the center of gravity of the lap with respect to the shelf, thus minimiz ing the tendency of the laps to tip withinthe slot. If desired, interchangeable and replaceable metal tabs (not shown) maybe placed around the periphery of the shelves to indicate the laps which are to be found in the various slots.

With this rack construction, the laps which are stored in the rack are not only more readily accessible than they would otherwise be, but, in addition, the working parts of the rack are not as susceptible to deterioration from the water and abrasive which drips from the laps as they would be in a closed cabinet or rack. Moreover, since therack structure is open to the atmosphere, drying is quicker, and less rusting of the laps and rack parts occurs than would be the case with a closed cabinet. The entire rack is readily movable and may be easily cleared for cleaning or other service operation. By reason of the oilcular construction the rack is particularly suitable for utilizing the space under machinery tables or benches and will support many more laps than can be accommodated on horizontal racks which might be placed under a table or bench.

Although the shelves as shown are provided with slots for receiving'the shanks of the grinding laps, the shelves may, if desired, be equipped with circular holes or apertures within which the shanks of the grinding laps may be placed.

In the modification of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4, the rack includes a shaft 41, thrust bearings 48 and 49 and hubs 40 and 4 carried by the thrust bearings and disposed about the shaft for independent and rotatable movement with respect thereto. This portion of the construction corresponds to that in the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3.

To the hubs 40 and 41 may be secured depending shelf portions 42 and 43 which extend outwardly and downwardly from the hubs, preferably at an angle of approximately 45 with respect thereto. The shelf portions 42 and 43 are thus preferably in the form of conical frustrums and may be provided with a plurality of apertures 44 for receiving the shanks 45 of grinding laps. The apertures may, if desired, be circular in shape. The shelves may be of sheet metal and may be secured to the hubs in any suitable way, for example, by means of the rivets 46.

When the rack shown in Fig. 4 is to be used, the laps are mounted on the rack by inserting the shanks 45 of the laps into the apertures 44 in the shelves. The laps may readily be withdrawn from the rack by merely lifting them from the shelves.

Although in the foregoing description certain details have been set forth as illustrative of the structure of the invention, it will be understood that modifications and changes in the structure tion.

may readily be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:. l

1. A rack of the character described comprising, a vertical support member, a plurality of vertically spaced shelves independently support.- ed by said member and rotatably mounted thereon, one of said shelves being provided with a plurality of long radial slots and with a plurality of short radial slots extending inwardly from the outer periphery of the shelf, each of said short slots being disposed between a pair of long slots.

2. A rack of the character described comprising, a base, a vertical shaft extending upwardly from said base, a plurality of thrust bearings mounted in vertically spaced relation on said shaft, a plurality of circular shelves independently and rotatably mounted at the central portion thereof on said shaft with each shelf supported on one of said thrust bearings, each of said shelves-being provided with a plurality of long radial slots and with a plurality of short radial slots extending inwardly from the outer periphery of the shelf, each of the short slots being disposed between a pair of long slots. 7

3. A rack of the character described comprising, a base, a vertical shaft extending upwardly from said base, a plurality of vertically spaced shelves independently supported on said shaft and rotatably mounted thereon, each of said shelves being provided with a plurality of long radial slots with a plurality of short radial slots extending inwardly from the outer periphery of the shelf, each of the short slots being disposed between a pair of long slots. 1

4. A rack of the character described for supporting grinding laps and the like comprising, a base, a vertical shaft supported by said base, a plurality of collars removably carried in vertically spaced relation by said shaft, a thrust bearing on each of said collars, a plurality of circular shelves mounted in vertically spaced relation on said shaft, each of said shelves being mounted at the central axis thereof on one of said thrust bearings for independent rotatable movement about said shaft, the shelves being provided with a plurality of long radial slots and with a plurality of short radial slots extending inwardly from the outer periphery of said shelves with each of the short slots disposed between a pair of the long slots, said slots being adapted to receive the shanks of grinding laps.

5. A rack of the character described for supporting grinding laps and the like comprising, a base, a vertical shaft supported by said base, a plurality of thrust bearings mounted in vertically spaced relation on said shaft, a plurality of circular shelves provided with long and short radial slots therein, each of said slots being open at the outer periphery of said shelf and extending inwardly therefrom, with each short slot being disposed between a pair of long slots, said slots being adapted to receive the shanks of grinding laps to support the same on the shelves, and a central hub in each shelf having a central aperture receiving said shaft, each of said hubs being supported on one of said thrust bearings whereby said shelves are independently and rotatably supported about said shaft in vertically spaced rela- JOHN R. KERRY. 

